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Ancient Greece (Thessaly), silver "Rhodian Mercenaries" drachm struck by King Perseus of Macedon, ca
lordmarcovan
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Ancient Greece (Thessaly), silver "Rhodian Mercenaries" drachm struck by King Perseus of Macedon, ca. 175-170 BC
Obverse: head of Helios three-quarter facing right.
Reverse: rose, bud right.
2.54 g. NGC Choice Mint State (Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5), cert. #4166130-001. Ex-Colosseo Collection, March, 2014. Prior provenance to Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., Buy or Bid Sale #186, Lot 90, with description "Ex-Philip Davis Collection. Some iridescent toning. Choice Mint State."
A brief bit of history: "Although the attribution of this issue has been debated, it seems likely that it was struck by Perseus to pay Cretan mercenaries, who would have been familiar with Rhodian issues, in the Third Macedonian War against the Romans (see R. Ashton, NC 1988, pp. 29-30)."
Miscellaneous links:
Slightly larger image
NGC cert verification page
Previous auction listing (Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., Buy or Bid Sale #186, August 21, 2013, Lot 90)
Coins of Thessaly (Wildwinds reference)
The Colosseo Collection (from which this piece was acquired)
Wikipedia links:
Perseus of Macedon
Greek drachma (ancient)
Thessaly
Third Macedonian War
Helios
Rhodes
When posted here, this coin was part of my "Eclectic Box of 20" Collection.
Obverse: head of Helios three-quarter facing right.
Reverse: rose, bud right.
2.54 g. NGC Choice Mint State (Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5), cert. #4166130-001. Ex-Colosseo Collection, March, 2014. Prior provenance to Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., Buy or Bid Sale #186, Lot 90, with description "Ex-Philip Davis Collection. Some iridescent toning. Choice Mint State."
A brief bit of history: "Although the attribution of this issue has been debated, it seems likely that it was struck by Perseus to pay Cretan mercenaries, who would have been familiar with Rhodian issues, in the Third Macedonian War against the Romans (see R. Ashton, NC 1988, pp. 29-30)."
Miscellaneous links:
Slightly larger image
NGC cert verification page
Previous auction listing (Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., Buy or Bid Sale #186, August 21, 2013, Lot 90)
Coins of Thessaly (Wildwinds reference)
The Colosseo Collection (from which this piece was acquired)
Wikipedia links:
Perseus of Macedon
Greek drachma (ancient)
Thessaly
Third Macedonian War
Helios
Rhodes
When posted here, this coin was part of my "Eclectic Box of 20" Collection.
1
Comments
World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
a wise purchase imo
what does the reverse say at the top?
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
But I think the NGC grading is recent , hope that doesn't mean Rob is gonna sell it, if so I will bid for certain.
Old thread alert! But I was struck by the beauty of this coin so made an unusual purchase for me. Later learned that others had similar experiences! @lordmarcovan @SmEagle1795
Not sure how many more ancients I will get into, but would be fun to get some more greek city states.
Heritage had a nice write up on a different example recently sold (which was a beautiful coin, too).
The last independent king of Macedon, Perseus inherited the throne from his father Philip V after the latter had his pro-Roman son Demetrius executed. Thus the tone was set from the outset of his reign for an eventual clash, which proved fatal to the Antigonid monarchy and Macedonian independence. Perseus skillfully rebuilt the Macedonian army and a network of marriage alliances during the first years of his reign, which the Romans watched with rising alarm. The Third Macedonian War broke out in 171 BC, and for a time Perseus employed guerrilla tactics which gave him the initiative and kept the Romans on their heels. Like his father, though, he chose to risk all in a single pitched battle at Pydna and lost badly to the Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paullus. Perseus surrendered and was allowed to live out his life in comfortable captivity in Rome; the Macedonian Kingdom was divided into four theoretically autonomous Republics which were soon subsumed into direct Roman rule. The coinage of Perseus is one of the more attractive of the Hellenistic series.
My current "Box of 20"
Nicely done! Lovely coin.
Alas, I no longer own the coin in the OP. I do miss it.